Alarm bells as Raja Bhaiya comes calling

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 25

The recent visit of UP strongman Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiya to Punjab has raised eyebrows in the police as well as intelligence agencies. He was hosted by Faridkot’s Congress MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon at his residence.

Dhillon, who posted a picture with the UP MLA on social media, said he had been friends with Raja Bhaiya for a long time. “We share love for cattle and horses. I hosted him for lunch where we discussed new superior breeds of animals that are being reared by us. I have no clue about his meeting with other persons,” he said.

According to information, the strongman visited Faridkot, Ferozepur and Amritsar earlier this month. Intelligence agencies, however, have some leads over the strongman having met some people classified as “gangsters” by Punjab Police.

Top officials said though there was no evidence of UP gangsters coming to Punjab to recruit sharpshooters, it was a fact that Punjab-based gangs often bought arms and ammunition from UP.

The first time the link between Punjab gangs and UP dons was established was during the investigation into Prabhjinder Singh “Dimpy” murder in 2006.

“We have never found any link of UP-based gangs hiring people from Punjab. But the evidence of arms being supplied by UP and Bihar-based dons has emerged from time to time,” DGP (Intelligence) Dinkar Gupta told The Tribune.

The fact that Raja Bhaiya’s visit comes after the visit of another UP strongman Dhananjay Singh has sent alarm bells ringing. Earlier this year, Dhananjay Singh had reportedly commissioned a helicopter for campaigning in favour of Rajdeep Kaur, sister of slain gangster Jaswinder Singh ‘Rocky’, during the Punjab Assembly elections.